College Homecoming Event Ideas for HBCU Alumni

College Homecoming is a big hit among students and alumni. Everyone’s attending, and there are so many things to do and people to meet. The homecoming pep rally, parade, tailgate, and game are all staple homecoming events. Here are some more ideas to make this year’s homecoming more memorable than the last.

Batch Activities

Some college batches are bonded closer than the rest, while some are just waiting for the right chance to bond again. Host a t-shirt design day and invite members of the alumni association to participate. Cordon off a large section of the parking lot and have the activity there. Prepare a supply of white shirts, poster paint in the school’s colors, and tons of old newspaper. Delegate the task of organizing the event to the art club.

Barbecue Cook-Offs

Sports and tail gate parties mean gorging on barbecued meat, seafood and vegetables. This year, celebrate the school spirit with a barbecue cook-off between clubs, alumni batches, faculty members and students. Make it an all-amateur cooking contest, which means no professional chefs allowed. Invite everyone that has a passion for cooking, a grill and a mean barbecue sauce recipe to participate. The members of the crowd can cast in their votes to decide the winner.

Fundraisers

Fundraisers are fun events. While the main objective is to profit, the activities can be done in the spirit of good fun. This is also the best time to create an opportunity for alumni and parents to contribute to something worthwhile, like a new library collection that the school wants to purchase or more scholarships or grants for deserving seniors.

Some ideas for enjoyable fundraisers are meals for a cause and memorabilia auction. For the meal for a cause, you can invite alumni families and parents of students to purchase meals or tickets to a buffet dinner. Solicit help from famous restaurants in your city.

For the memorabilia auction, you can invite alumni to bring their college memorabilia and put them on display. One memorabilia can be a framed candid photo of the retired college professor that everyone loved. Another can be the class ring that belonged to this or that famous alumnus. Any item from their college days that has a story can be auctioned, with the organizers choosing the best ones to put on display. They’re sold to the highest bidder at the end of the day.

Surprise Awards

During the tailgate, the bonfire or the pep rally, you can give out funny awards like the “coolest alumnus” for the alumnus who wore his entire collection of school buttons. If you’re having a theme party, you can give the best dressed award to the participant that best represented the theme. You can create a committee that decides which award goes to which groups or individual. If you have giveaways, place a secret tag (random numbers, for instance) on these items so that the owner will get a surprise award when you reveal the significance of the numbers during halftime. You can turn this idea into a raffle and have everyone wearing or carrying your freebies until the end of the event.

Photo by Prairie View A&M University